Gaming & Culture —

Square-Enix confirms FFXIII demo not westbound

Unfortunately for anxious Western JRPG fans, Square-Enix has revealed that the …

As far as RPGs go, there is no more highly-anticipated title for this entire console generation than Final Fantasy XIII. Square-Enix's first numerical entry into the franchise since since 2006 is on the horizon, and the company has been working diligently to have the title out this year in Japan. But while the land of the rising sun will enjoy the typical pre-release demo pack-in before June, Square-Enix has confirmed that Western players will not have access to the same demo.

Speaking to Videogaming247, a Square-Enix rep confirmed the news. "At present the FINAL FANTASY XIII demo will only be available in Japan with the Blu Ray release of Advent Children Complete,” said the rep. "We hope to have further news in the coming months." Historically, Square-Enix has bundled demos for its big numerical iterations with other titles in America. A Final Fantasy XII demo was bundled with Dragon Quest VIII, a Final Fantasy VIII demo was bundled with Brave Fencer Musashi, and so on.

Of course, the dedicated will be able to import the special Advent Children Complete Blu-ray coming to Japan early this year to get a taste of the new Final Fantasy game—though it's strange that with the company's recent focus on expanding to the Western world it would forgo giving Western players the chance to drink the Final Fantasy XIII kool-aid before release. Regardless, we're currently planning to import the demo, so look out for impressions of the game when the Complete collection launches.